Fiber picture and process of making the same.



C. S. BENTLEY. FIBER PICTURE AND PROCESS 0F MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATIONA FILED FEB. I7. 1916.

Patented Deo. T2, 1916;

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I INN IwINNNMINwamIMN/MH I III I IIIIII a Pnam 1.1mm msm-wwwa c CHARLESBENTLEY, 0E PLATTSBURG, NEW YORK.

FIBER PICTURE AND PRGCESS 0F MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nee.. ia, rare.

Application filed February 17, 1916. Serial No. 78,968.

To all whom t may concern: i

Be it known that l, CHARLES S. BENTLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Plattsburg, in the county of Clinton and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fiber Pictures andProcesses of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the fine arts, and particularly to theproductionof pictures by novel means dispensing entirely .with paint,and yet giving pictures having the soft, mellow appearance and distanceeffects of oil paintings.

My object is to produce pictures by the use of colored fibrous materialinstead of paint.

Another object 'is to produce mounts for entomological specimens nandthe like, with the fibrous material forming the back of the mount,utilized to form a picture, preferably illustrative of the environmentand scenery of the natural habitat of the specimen.

Other objects will appear in the subj oined description.

The invention consists in the novel method of employing colored "fiberto form a picture, and of the picture thus formed; and also in theutilization of a fiber picture as a backing for a specimen mount, ashereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating a picture formed of colored fiber.view showin@ substantially the same picture utilized as the backing ofan entomological specimen mount, the clouds being omitted for the sakeof clearness. Fig. 3 is a broken section illustrating a liber pictureand the case containing the same; and, Fig. 4C illustrates a slightlymodified way of forming a picture.

As is well known, the finest pictures are ordinarily formed with paintof suitable colors and tints properly spread with brushes on canvas orother desired backing; but in the production of my pictures, instead ofpaint, i employ fragments of ber of different colors and shades, saidfragments being placed in proper relation to each other to produce thedesired e'ects.

In the production of my pictures, l find it Fig. 2 is a greatlyconvenient to have at hand, not only a supply of fiber of all thedifferent colors needed, but also graduated shades of each individualcolor used. The reason of this becomes at once apparent when we considerthat whilepaint of any given color can be mixed with white to tone itdown to a lighter shade, or with other colors to variously modify itsshade, that colored ber cannot be mixed into a homogeneous mass withother liber of different color to give any different shade or color thatmay be desired.

ln order to produce all the different shades of any given color, l haveinvented a method of coloring ber, which method forms the subject matterof another application.

Of course l can produce many beautiful effects in fiber pictures andintroduce many different shades of color by taking fiber of a givencolor and spreading it in films of different thicknesses on top of fiberor other backing of different color. But filming the fiber in this wayto obtain different shades of a color, is a slower process than my usualmethod, as referred to above. For instance, suppose I desire a dash ofsunlight in a niinute portion of a picture; l can obtain the exacteffect desired by taking a suitable portion of fiber of the exact shadeof the particular color required, and gently superimposing the same inits proper position on the picture; whereas, to produce the same effectby filming the fiber as indicated above, would be much more difcult.

ln the production of my pictures l can use any and every known kind offibrous material-cotton, fiax, silk-weed, wool, silk, asbestos, etc.rfhese pictures may be produced by bringing the different portions ofvariously colored fiber into proper relation to each other to form thepictures, and then securing or holding said parts together in anydesired manner; but l have found in practice that the clearness andbeauty of these pictures is much enhanced by pressing them under glass.The smooth, even surface of the glass brings the visible part of thefiber, forming the pictures, into an even plane, with the portions ofthe separate fiber which have come into contact with the surface of theglass disposed parallel with said surface, thereby exposing to view theglossy sides of the visibleportions of the various fibers. This servesthe double purpose of bringing a great number of fibers into an evenvplane so that a glance of the eye will catch the reflection of more ofthem at one time than would otherwise be possible, and also of disposingthe individual fibers in a way topresentthe greatest possi le area ofreflecting surface to the eye. This pressure ofthe glass upon thedifferent colored fibers, lforcing them into an even plane, therebyeffects" such a delicate shading of one tone into another, that theillusion of distance and atmosphere may be obtainedfby the use ofcomparatively few colors; As soon as theglass is pressed into engagementwith the fiber, the colors at once take' on new life and beauty, andproduce pictures much softer and endowed with .greater atmosphericeffects thaneither pastels' or water colors. of thedrawings, I haveillustrated a convenient way 'of holding thes'e'fiber pictures inengagement with the glass which also forms a cover for the picture.Referring to these figures of the drawings, the numeral lr indicatesa-box, having cover 2, with the top of the cover all removed except theinwardly extending ange 2a around its margin. Interposed between the topof the boX l and the Vflange 2a, is the glass 3, 'which in reality formsthe top of the cover. In the bcX is placed the colored fiber il whichforms the picture'. The lid 2 may be suitably secured on the boX 1n anypreferred manner.

In the'cas'e ofspecimen mounts, when it is desired to have aconsiderable depth of fiber in order to permit the butterflies or otherspecimens to become easily embedded in the fiber -wlien'the glass ispressed down upon them,"I provide somewhat deeper boXes and fill vtheirbottoms with layers of plain fiber 5. Each kind of fiber haslits ownpeculiar qualities, and hence each has its peculiar adaptability forbringing out the diderent effects rdesired in these fiber pictures. iFor instance7 in subjects to'which a certain style of painting would" beapplicable dyed sheeps wool-whenpressed undera plate of glass or othertransparent material produces so'me very interesting' brush marks. Itcounterfeits to a nicety the apparently hap-v hazzard yet remarkablestyle Yof a Turnerfor Claude Monet.

The fiber of wool is fiat so thin that it has irregular init. Thisaccounts'in l effects. Silk and spiders web, and many other kinds offiber, are quite different in structure from wool, and so producecorrespondingly different dfec'ts in a picture. In making thesevpicturesI`. use whatever kind curls Vand kinks of fibel-fis best suitedto theparticular sub! jectV inhan'd, andin some' cases .many differf Inthedifferent figures andl glossy, and

ent kinds of fiber are used in the same picture. 0f all the differentkinds of fiber, cotton is perhaps the cheapest and most abundant, and Ihave found that by the use of cotton batting properly colored verysatisfactory results may be obtained.

In certain kinds of pictures, as for instance, landscape pictures, verystriking dis- ,marthe general effect; but such is not the case with thedifferent portions of fiber, lsince their edges have no well definedoutlines, and therefore each portion seems to merge imperceptibly intothat which is beneath it, so that the unitary effect produced iscomplete. In Fig. Ll of the drawings, I have vshown a fragmentary viewof a picture formed in this way. In this view, the box 1 with'its lid 2is made Within the box are the transparent plates 6, 7, 8, 9, and l0,with the several portions a of colored fiber suitably placed between theplates to form the picture desired. These plates may all be of an equalthickness, or their thickness may be varied according to the distanceeffects desired to be produced. In the drawings the plates are all shownas of different thicknesses.

Having thus described my invention, what 'i I claim as new and desireters Patent, is

Y l. A picture formed of portions of colored fiber placed together inproper relation to each other relatively the picture; and means forholding said portions of colored fiber in the desired relation to eachother.

" 2. The process of forming to protect by Letpictures by placingtogether portions of variously colored fibrous material in properrelation to each other relatively to their colors to produce thepictures desired.

3. The process of forming pictures by placing together portions ofvariously colored fibrouspmaterial in proper relation to each other,relatively to their colors to produce the pictures desired, andsuperimposing upon the surface of the ber thus arranged a plate: oftransparent material pressed into engagement with said surface to bringthe surface of the picture into an even plane coincidentwith the undersurface of the transparent plate.

l., A, specimen mount comprising a deeper thanin Fig. 3. l

t0 their colors to form liibrous backing; and a holder for saidbackengagement With the colored fiber forming ing, said backing beingformed of portions the picture. lf"

oit' variously Colored fiber placed together ln testimony whereof I aixiny signature in proper relation to each other relatively to in thepresence of two Witnesses.

their colors to form a picture illustrative of CHARLES S. BENTLEY. theenvironment and scenery of the natural Witnesses: habitat of thespecimen; said holder having Lucius A. WILSON, a transparent top adaptedto loe pressed into DOUGLAS EDWARDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C.

